No Longer Empty

Shireen Abrishamian

Winter 2012 - Spring 2013

Shireen works closely with NLE’s Director of Programming, Jodie Dinapoli, to create and organize opportunities for community engagement and collaboration. She currently studies history, sociology, and photography as an undergraduate student at Sarah Lawrence College, with a specific interest in art as it relates to social justice within local and global communities. Growing up near Boston, Shireen was actively involved in projects that utilized art to culturally enhance neighborhoods and unite its residents. This is the kind of work she now hopes to pursue in New York through NLE.

Christine Meng

Winter 2012 - Spring 2013

Christine is currently a graduate student at the Department of Media, Culture and Communication of New York University. Interested in media and education, she works closely with Jodie Dinapoli to coordinate activities for school-aged children and teenagers, and with Lucy Lydon on communication and social media outreach. As a passionate traveler who has visited and lived in many parts of the world, she is fascinated by arts from different cultures. She hopes to be an excellent educator with the aid of multimedia, and she hopes to work in nonprofit organizations like NLE to bring more positive energy to society.

Deon Soogrim

Fall 2012 - Spring 2013

Deon recently graduated from Williams College where he studied Studio Art and played Ultimate Frisbee. He followed his interest in urban spaces and public art to No Longer Empty where he spends his time as a curatorial intern and helping out with events and exhibition install. He hopes to continue studying art in the form memorials and public spaces to understand how they shape civic life and collective memory.

Eva Ting

Winter 2012 - Spring 2013

Eva loves cities, people and art, and she's fortunate enough to be currently working and studying at the convergence of all three. After obtaining two bachelor degrees (one in journalism and another in English literature) from Boston University, Eva ventured off to Shanghai, China to study Chinese and freelance write for English magazines. Her plan to go for one year stretched into nine, and she eventually found herself managing an art gallery and discovered her niche in arts administration. Finishing her last semester in the M.A. in Visual Arts Administration program at New York University, Eva is passionate about issues of urban revitalization and the arts. Her interests reside primarily in community-based arts, specifically in working with arts organizations and the various communities they serve in creating impactful and sustainable programming.

Billy Zhao

Winter 2012 - Spring 2013

Billy is currently a student at the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College. He is passionate about promoting the arts to youth and teen audiences because of the positive impact of his own experiences in teen programs at cultural institutions / organizations - MoMA, P.S.1, the Whitney and Museum Teen Summit. Though he is currently interested in youth empowerment through arts education, Billy is still figuring out where his interests and goals in the arts are. He works closely with Jodie Dinapoli, the Director of Programming, on NLE x High5 Curatorial TrAC and NLE's Youth Docent Program.